The International Journal of Engineering and Science (IJES)

|| Volume || 6 || Issue || 10 || Pages || PP 63- 77 || 2017 ||

ISSN (e): 2319 – 1813 ISSN (p): 2319 – 1805

Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet

Tracer
Nathaniel S. Tarkaa1, Paul I. Iannah2, Isaac T. Iber3
123
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria
Corresponding author: Nathaniel S. Tarkaa

--------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT-----------------------------------------------------------
Computer networks have become extremely important in our present-day society. A majority of companies
depend on the proper functioning of their networks for communications, administration, automation, e-business
solutions, etc. The Local Area Network (LAN) is the most basic and important computer network owned by
individual companies and could be used for interconnection with wide area networks. A LAN permits effective
cost sharing of high-value data processing equipment such as mass storage media, mainframe computers or
minicomputers, and high-speed printers. Resource sharing is probably equally as important where a LAN
serves as the access vehicle for an intranet or the Internet. In view of this, system managers need professional
tools to help them with the design and maintenance of LANs. A simulation tool offers a way to predict the
impact on the network of a hardware upgrade, a change in topology, an increase in traffic load or the use of a
new application. So in this paper, a LAN network is designed using Cisco Packet Tracer. The paper describes
how the tool can be used to develop a simulation model of the LAN for the College of Engineering of the
University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. The study provides an insight into various concepts such as
topology design, IP address configuration and how to send information in form of packets in a single network
and the use of Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to separate the traffic generated by different departments.
Keywords: Computer Networks, IP Addresses, Ping Test, Simulation Tool, Subnetting, VLANs
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Date of Submission: 06-10-2017 Date of Publication: 27-10-2017
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I. INTRODUCTION
The need for computer networking was borne out of the need to use personal computers for sharing
information within an organization in form of messages, sharing files and data bases and so forth. Whether the
organization is located in one building or spread over a large campus, the need for networking the computers
cannot be over emphasized. As the name implies, a Local Area Network (LAN) interconnects computers in a
limited geographic area. It provides high-bandwidth communication over inexpensive transmission media [1].
The corporate LAN has evolved from a passive background business component to a highly active, visible core
asset that enterprises rely on to support day-to-day operations critical to their market success. Today’s network is
a strategic instrument that must be accessible anytime from anywhere-simultaneously offering fast, secure,
reliable services at scale regardless of location [2]. The main purpose of a network is to reduce isolated users and
workgroups. All systems should be capable of communicating with others and should provide desired
information. Additionally, physical systems and devices should be able to maintain and provide satisfactory
performance, reliability and security. Resource sharing is probably equally of immense importance where a LAN
serves as the access vehicle for an intranet or the Internet [2]. In view of this, system managers need professional
tools to help them with the design and maintenance of LANs [3]. A simulation tool offers a way to predict the
impact on the network of a hardware upgrade, a change in topology, an increase in traffic load or the use of a
new application. So in this paper, a LAN network is designed using Cisco Packet Tracer.
Cisco Packet Tracer (CPT) is a multi-tasking network simulation software that can be used to perform
and analyze various network activities such as implementation of different topologies, selection of optimum path
based on various routing algorithms, creation of appropriate servers, subnetting, and analysis of various network
configuration and troubleshooting commands [4]. In order to start communication between end user devices and
to design a network, we need to select appropriate networking devices like routers, switches, hubs and make
physical connection by connecting cables to serial and fast Ethernet ports from the component list of packet
tracer [4]. Networking devices are costly so it is better to perform first on packet tracer to understand the concept
and behavior of the network [4].
The paper describes how the CPT tool can be used to develop a simulation model of the LAN for the
College of Engineering of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. The study provides an insight into

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

various concepts such as topology design, IP address configuration and how to send information in form of
packet in a single network and the use of Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to separate the traffic generated
by the different departments. VLANs are a new type of LAN architecture using intelligent, high-speed switches
[5]. The simulation results and performance analyses showed that the design was successful.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 discusses the different LAN topologies. This is
followed by a discussion in section 3 on the different types of transmission media. VLANs are discussed in
section 4. The concept of IPv4 addressing and subnetting is presented in section 5. In section 6, the development
of the LAN simulation model is presented; while section 7 presents the model’s simulation and results analyses.
Lastly in section 8 is the conclusion.

II. NETWORK TOPOLOGY

According to [4], for interconnectivity of components, network topology describe the physical and
logical appearance and interconnection between arrangement of computers, cables and other components in a
data communication network and how it can be used for taking a packet from one device and sending it through
the network to another device on a different network. A network topology is the physical layout of computers,
cables, and other components on a network. There are a number of different network topologies, and a network
may be built using multiple topologies. The different types of network topologies are: Bus topology, Star
topology, Mesh topology, Ring topology, Hybrid topology and Wireless topology.
The bus topology typically uses a cable running through the area requiring connectivity. Devices that
need to connect to the network then tap into this nearby cable. To prevent signal bounce, a terminator is
designed to absorb the signal when the signal reaches the end.
The Star Topology is a network topology in which all the clients or machines on the network are
connected through a central device known as a hub or switch. Each workstation has a cable that goes from the
network card to the hub or switch device. One of the major benefits of the star topology is that a break in the
cable causes only the workstation that is connected to the cable to go down, not the entire network as it is with
the bus topology.
In a mesh topology, every workstation has a connection to every other machine or workstation on the
network. The mesh topology is not so common in today’s networks probably because of the cost of
implementation.
In a ring topology, all computers are connected via a cable that loops in a ring or circle. A ring topology
is a circle that has no start and no end. Signals travel in one direction on a ring while they are passed from one
computer to the next, with each computer regenerating the signal so that it may travel the distance required.
Some networks of today are implemented by having a combination of more than one topology: star and bus, star
and ring, ring and bus or ring, bus and star. Networks implemented in this way are said to be hybrids.
A wireless topology is one in which few cables are used to connect systems. The network is made up of
transmitters that broadcast the packets using radio frequencies. The network contains special transmitters called
wireless access points which extend a radio sphere in the shape of a bubble around the transmitter. Wireless
topology can either be an ad-hoc or an infrastructure based implementation [6].

III. COMMUNICATION MEDIA

Network devices are connected together using a medium, the medium can be cables which can either be
coaxial cable or twisted pair cable or it can be by optic fiber cables or the medium can be free space (air) by the
use of radio waves. A discussion of the media is as outlined below [7]:

3.1 Coaxial Cable

This cable is composed of two conductors. One of the conductors is an inner insulated conductor and
this inner insulated conductor is surrounded by another conductor. This second conductor is sometimes made of
a metallic foil or woven wire. Because the inner conductor is shielded by the metallic outer conductor, coaxial
cable is resistant to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Coaxial cables have an associated characteristic
impedance, which needs to be balanced with the device (or terminator) with which the cable connects. There are
two types of coaxial cables: Thicknet (10Base5), and Thinnet (10Base2). The two differ in thickness (1/4-inch
for thicknet and ½-inch for thinnet) and in maximum cable distance that the signal can travel (500 meters for
thicknet and 185 meters for thinnet). A transceiver is often connected directly to the ThickNet cable using a
connector known as vampire tap.

3.2 Twisted Pair Cable

This is the most popular LAN media type in use today. Individual insulated copper strands are
intertwined into a twisted pair cable. Two categories/types of twisted pair cable include Shielded Twisted Pair
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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

(STP) and Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). To define industry-standard pinouts and color coding for twisted-
pair cabling, the TIA/EIA-568 (Telecommunication Industry Association/Electronic Industries Alliance)
standard was developed. The first iteration of the TIA/EIA-568 standard has come to be known as the TIA/EIA-
568-A standard, which was released in 1991. In 2001, an updated standard was released, which became known
as TIA/EIA-568-B. The pinout of these two standards is the same however, the color coding of the wiring is
different. Table 1 shows the TIA/EIA-568 standard.

Table I: TIA/EIA-568 Wiring Standard

Pin No. TIA/EIA-568-A TIA/EIA-568-B
1 Green-white Orange-white
2 Green Orange
3 Orange-white Green-white
4 Blue Blue
5 Blue-white Blue-white
6 Orange Green
7 Brown-white Brown-white
8 Brown Brown

Three types of cabling exist for UTP cable and they are: Straight through cable, Cross over cable and
Roll over cable. The straight through cable is used to connect either a host to a switch or hub or to connect a
router to a switch or hub. The Cross over cable can be used to connect a switch to switch, hub to a hub, host to
host, hub to switch and a router direct to host. Roll over cables are not used to connect any Ethernet devices
together, rather, they are used to connect a host to a router console serial communication (com) port.

3.3 Optic Fiber Cable

An alternative to copper cabling is fiber–optic cabling, which sends light through an optic fiber. Using
light instead of electricity makes fiber optics immune to EMI. Also depending on the layer 1 technology being
used, fiber-optic cables typically have greater maximum distance between networked devices and greater data
carrying capacity.

3.4 Wireless
Not all media is physical, as is the case with wireless technologies. Wireless clients gain access to a
wired network by communicating via radio waves with a wireless access point (AP). The access point is then
hardwired to a LAN. All wireless devices connecting to the same AP are considered to be on the same shared
network segment, which means that only one device can send data to and receive data from an AP at any one
time (half duplex communication).

IV. VIRTUAL LOCAL AREA NETWORKS (VLANs)

VLANs are a new type of LAN architecture using intelligent, high-speed switches. Unlike other LAN
types, which physically connect computers to LAN segments, VLANs assign computers to LAN segments by
software. VLANs have been standardized as IEEE802.1q and IEEE802.1p. There are two basic designs of
VLANS. They are: Single-switch VLANs and Multiswitch VLANs (Fig. 1) [5].

4.1 Single Switch VLANs

With single switch VLANs, computers are assigned to VLANs using special software, but physically connected
together using a large physical switch. Computers can be assigned to VLANs in four ways:
 Port-based VLANs assign computers according to the VLAN switch port to which they are attached
 MAC-based VLANs assign computers according to each computer’s data link layer address
 IP-based VLANs assign computers using their IP-address
 Application-based VLANs assign computers depending on the application that the computer typically uses.
This has the advantage of allowing precise allocation of network capacity.

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Figure 1: Types of VLAN design (a) single switch VLAN (b) multiswitch VLAN

4.2 Multiswitch VLANs

Multiswitch VLANs send packets between multiple switches, making VLANs with segments in separate
locations possible. When a frame is sent between switches it is modified and includes a tag field carrying VLAN
information field. When the frame reaches the final switch, the tag field is removed prior to the frame being sent
to its destination computer. Multiswitch VLANs can also prioritize traffic using the IEEE802.1p standard in the
hardware layers and the RSVP standard in the internetwork layers. IEEE802.1p works with the IEEE802.11ac
frame definition which includes a special priority field.

V. IPv4 ADDRESSING AND SUBNETTING

An IP address is a numeric identifier assigned to each machine on an IP network. It designates the
specific location of a device on the network. IP addressing was designed to allow hosts on one network to
communicate with hosts on different networks regardless of the type of LAN the hosts are participating in [8].

5.1 IPv4 Address Structure

An IPv4 address is a 32-bit address. However rather than writing out each individual bit value, the
address is typically written in dotted-decimal notation, for example 192.168.23.100. Each number represents an
8-bit portion of the 32 bits in the address and each of these four divisions of an IP address is called an octet. An
IP address is composed of two types of addresses: network address and host address and the IP address
component that determines which bits refer to the network and which bits refer to the host is called subnet mask.
An example of a subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.

5.2 Classes of Addresses

There are five classes of IP addresses and they are shown in the Table 2 [8].

Table II: Classes of IP addresses

Address Class Value in First Octet
A 1 – 126
B 128 – 191
C 192 – 223
D 224 – 239
E 240 – 255

IP addresses can be dynamically configured using DHCP or they can be statically configured by inputting it
manually on the device [8].

5.3 Subnetting
Subnetting is the process of stealing bits from the host part of an IP address in order to divide the larger
network into smaller sub-networks called subnets [8]. After subnetting, network subnet host fields are created.
An IP address is always reserved to identify the subnet and another one to identify the broadcast address within
the subnet. Subnetting can be done in three basic ways, one of which is subnetting based on the number of sub-
networks you wish to obtain from a single block of IP address; another way is to subnet based on the number of
host computers or devices you want to be connected to that sub-network and finally subnetting by reverse
engineering which is a scenario in which a subnet mask and an IP address block is given and the number of sub-

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networks and number of hosts per each subnet are found [8]. For example, if a public IP address block of
192.168.23.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.252 is purchased from our ISP and because this block has only
two valid hosts, this IP address is used to assign to our Router interface so that traffic can be directed from our
network to the ISP and from there to the internet. A private IP address block is then chosen to carry out IP
addressing within our network. Because of the expected clients on this network, a Class B address is chosen for
the internal network and it is 172.168.0.0 with a mask of 255.255.0.0. Based on the power of 2s, there are some
equations that allow us to determine the required details, and these are [8]:

(1)
(2)
(3)

5.4 Subnet Mask

For the subnet scheme to work, every host (machine) on the network must know which part of the host
address will be used as the subnet address. This is accomplished by assigning subnet mask to each machine. A
subnet mask is a 32-bit value that allows the recipient of an IP packet to distinguish the network ID portion of
the IP address from the host ID portion of the IP address. Table 3 shows the default subnet masks for all classes
of network [8].

Table III: Subnet Mask for Different Classes of Networks

Class Of IP Format Default Subnet Mask
A Network.node.node.node 255.0.0.0
B Network.network.node.node 255.255.0.0
C Network.network.network.node 255.255.255.0

VI. DEVELOPMENT OF LAN SIMULATION MODEL

We require at least 252 hosts per subnet and using (2) gives:

Therefore the number of unmasked bits in the subnet mask is 8 which also implies that the number of
masked bits is 8 i.e. x = 8; hence the new subnet mask is represented in binary as
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 which is 255.255.255.0 in decimal and the number of subnets that can
be obtained using this scheme is 2x = number of subnets
Number of subnets = 28 = 256 subnets, block size= 256 – 255 = 1. Therefore the subnets obtained are given
in tabular form in Table 4.

Table IV: Subnets obtained from the Subnetting Scheme

S/No. Network Address Firstvalid Host Last Valid Host Broadcast
1 172.168.0.0 172.168.0.1 172.168.0.254 172.168.0.255
2 172.168.1.0 172.168.1.1 172.168.1.254 172.168.1.255
3 172.168.2.0 172.168.2.1 172.168.2.254 172.168.2.255
4 172.168.3.0 172.168.3.1 172.168.3.254 172.168.3.255
5 172.168.4.0 172.168.4.1 172.168.4.254 172.168.4.255
6 172.168.5.0 172.168.5.1 172.168.5.254 172.168.5.255
7 172.168.6.0 172.168.6.1 172.168.6.254 172.168.6.255
8 172.168.7.0 172.168.7.1 172.168.7.254 172.168.7.255

Each serial number entry in the table represents a subnet and this goes on till the number reaches 256
which is the total number of subnets that were obtained. Each of those entries is assigned to a department in the
College of Engineering and some of the remaining blocks are assigned to the Library, New Auditorium and the
Old Auditorium respectively. If any block is unassigned it will be kept for future expansion of the network. The
assignment of the subnets to the units is as follows:

Electrical Engineering 172.168.0.0/24

Agricultural Engineering 172.168.1.0/24
Civil Engineering 172.168.2.0/24
Mechanical Engineering 172.168.3.0/24
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Network Centre 172.168.4.0/24

Old Auditorium 172.168.5.0/24
New Auditorium 172.168.6.0/24
Library 172.168.7.0/24

Figure 2: Complete diagram of the college of engineering local area network as created in packet tracer
environment

The diagram of Fig. 2 is the complete diagram of the Local Area Network and at the core it consists of
the router, switch and servers forming the Network Operating Centre (NOC) and all the departments in the
College are just a mere extension of this network at the core. The IP address chosen for the internal network is
172.168.0.0 and it has been subnetted to obtain IP address blocks that are assigned to the different departments
and sections of this LAN.

6.1 Switch Configurations

The configurations to be made on the switch are, making some ports access ports and a port as the trunk port to
the Router, configuring a default-gateway, creating VLANs and assigning switch ports to the VLANs.

6.2 Trunk-to-Router
To create a trunk port on the switch that will connect to the router, and all other access ports, we login to the
switch and using the command Line interface (CLI), use the following commands.

Switch(config)# int fastethernet 0/1

Switch(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
Switch(config-if)#spanning-tree portfast trunk
Switch(config-if)#interface range fa0/2 – 24
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport mode access
Switch(config-if-range)#end

6.3 Creating VLANs

There are four departments in the College of Engineering, each of which will be on a separate VLAN
and also New Auditorium, Library and the Old Auditorium will be linked to the network, each on its own
VLAN. In all we need to create eight (8) VLANs. To create a VLAN on a switch, the following command is
used:

Switch(config)#vlan [id].

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To create the VLAN for Electrical Engineering Department and also give it an appropriate name for easy
identification, we give the following commands:

Switch(config)#vlan 10
Switch(config-vlan)#name Electrical

We use the two commands above repeatedly to create VLANs for the other departments, each VLAN with its
own ID and name.

6.4 Assigning Switch Ports to VLANs

The VLANs have been created and even though active, they don’t have switch ports associated with
them. This makes the switch still just a single broadcast domain. To assign switch ports to the VLANs, the
following commands are used:

Switch(config)#interface [interface type] [interface identifier]

Switch(config-if)#switchport access vlan [vlan id]

The first command is used to select the switch port to assign to the VLAN. The “interface type” in the
command can be a gigabitethernet or fastethernet port, and the “interface identifier” can be 0/1, 0/2,…0/n for the
first, second or up to the nth port on the switch. In the second command, “vlan id” is the ID of the VLAN the port
is to be a part of. To assign port 2 and 3 to the electrical VLAN, we apply the commands:

Switch(config)#interface fastethernet0/2
Switch(config-if)#switchport access vlan 10
Switch(config-if)#interface fastethernet0/3
Switch(config-if)#switchport access vlan 10

The reason for assigning two ports to one VLAN is for redundancy.

6.5 Configuring Default-Gateway

The switches in the departments need to have a gateway for packets that are destined outside the network
(VLAN), and this can be configured using the command below:

Switch(config)#ip default-gateway [ip address].

Where “ip address” in the command, is the IP address for the interface connecting the VLAN to the Router.
Hence, for VLAN 10 (Electrical Engineering), the command is entered as:

EEESW(config)#ip default-gateway 172.168.0.1

FOR VLAN 20: Agricultural Engineerimg

AGRICSW(config)#ip default-gateway 172.168.1.1

For VLAN 30: Civil Engineering

CIVSW(config)#ip default-gateway 172.168.2.1

For VLAN 40: Mechanical Engineerimg

MECHSW(config)#ip default-gateway 172.168.3.1

6.6 Router Configurations

The router is the most powerful networking device and for it to perform its functions on the network,
the configurations to be made are, DHCP, DHCP relay, inter VLAN routing, Network Address Translation
(NAT), creating sub-interfaces for each VLAN on the Core Switch.

6.7 Create Sub-Interfaces for Each VLAN

For packets of different VLANs to reach the router, there must be appropriate interfaces linking the router and
the VLAN and because router with large number of interfaces are more costly to purchase, as a result of which

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sub-interfaces are created on the router interface connecting to the trunk port on the switch. This can be done by
giving the command below:

Admin_router(config)#interface [interface type] [interface identifier break]

Where: “interface type” is either a gigabitethernet port or a fastethernet port and “interface identifier break”
starts the creation of the sub-interfaces e.g. 0/1.1 to create the first sub-interface. The set of commands below
configures the router sub-interfaces, enables DHCP relay, also it implements NAT and finally inter-VLAN
routing.

Admin_router#configure terminal
Admin_router(config)# interface gig0/1
Admin_router(config-if)#no ip address
Admin_router(config-if)#duplex auto
Admin_router(config-if)#speed auto
Admin_router(config-if)#interface gig0/1.1
Admin_router(config-subif)#description VLAN10_interface
Admin_router(config-subif)#encapsulation dot1q 10
Admin_router(config-subif)#ip address 172.168.0.1 255.255.255.0
Admin_router(config-subif)#ip nat inside
Admin_router(config-subif)#ip helper-address 172.168.4.3
Admin_router(config-subif)#end

These commands are applied repeatedly, having in the mind the ID for the different VLANs and the IP address
to the VLAN.

6.8 Wireless Access Point Configurations

The setup of the wireless access point is done by opening up the graphical user interface of the access point in
Packet Tracer and then clicking on the config tab to access type of configurations available for the access point.
Click on port 0 under the interface section to set the bandwidth of the Ethernet connection to the access
point, and then set the duplex (half duplex or full duplex). Click on port 1 under the interface section to
configure the SSID of the access point, authentication type (none, WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK) and if any
authentication type is chosen provide the passphrase for network connectivity.

6.9 Server Configuration

The LAN design will require the services of a DHCP server, DNS server, HTTP server, and the AAA server for
authentication. Taking each server, the setup is as follows:

6.10 DHCP Server Setup

The DHCP server is configured by opening up the graphical user interface of server0 and after selecting
DHCP service from the services tab, turns on the DHCP service after which we configure the address pools that
will be used on our network. The address pools can be configured as follows:

For VLAN 10: For VLAN 20:

Poolname: VLAN10 Poolname: VLAN20
Default gateway: 172.168.0.1 Default gateway: 172.168.1.1
DNS server: 172.168.4.3 DNS server: 172.168.4.3
Start IP address: 172.168.0.5 Start IP address: 172.168.1.5
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Maximum number of users: 251 Maximum number of users: 251

For VLAN 30: For VLAN 40:

Poolname: VLAN30 Poolname: VLAN40
Default gateway: 172.168.2.1 Default gateway: 172.168.3.1
DNS server: 172.168.4.3 DNS server: 172.168.4.3
Start IP address: 172.168.2.5 Start IP address: 172.168.3.5
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Maximum number of users: 251 Maximum number of users: 251

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For VLAN 50: For VLAN 60:

Poolname: VLAN50 Poolname: VLAN60
Default gateway: 172.168.6.1 Default gateway: 172.168.5.1
DNS server: 172.168.4.3 DNS server: 172.168.4.3
Start IP address: 172.168.6.5 Start IP address:172.168.5.5
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Maximum number of users: 251 Maximum number of users: 251

For VLAN 70: For VLAN 80:

Poolname: VLAN70 Poolname: serverpool
Default gateway:172.168.7.1 Default gateway: 172.168.4.1
DNS server: 172.168.4.3 DNS server: 172.168.4.3
Start IP address: 172.168.7.5 Start IP address: 172.168.4.12
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Maximum number of users: 251 Maximum number of users: 244

After entering all these information on the prompt, click on the add button for each VLAN entry to add
the pool to the DHCP server. Some IP addresses are excluded to give room for expansion or the connection of
network equipment that will require manual IP assignment. VLAN 80 is the VLAN for the network operating
centre. That is why the maximum number of users on it is less. This is due to the exclusion of more IP addresses
to be assigned to the equipment in the centre.

6.11 DNS Server Setup

The setup of the DNS server is done by opening the server0 graphical user interface (GUI), and after
selecting the services tab, then select the DNS service. Turn on the DNS service and enter the fully qualified
domain Name (FQDN) e.g engcomplex.com in the name section and its IP address in the address section, then
click on add to add the A record on the DNS server.

6.12 HTTP Server Setup

The setup of the HTTP server is done by opening up the graphical user interface of server0 in Packet
Tracer and after selecting the services tab, selects the HTTP service. A window shows with the configuration
options for the web server. Click on import on the web server window to upload web pages that have been
programmed to the server.

6.13 Email Server Setup

To set up the email server, we open up server0 and after clicking on services tab, select the email service and a
window opens up with the type of configurations available for the email server. And the configurations are;
 Turn on secure message transfer protocol (SMTP) service.
 Turn on POP3 service
 Enter the domain name for your mail server i.e. engcomplex.com in our case. And then click on set to set the
domain.
 In the user setup section, setup the username and password for each user on the email server and then click on
“+” to add the user to the mail server.
 To change a user’s password, click on the user on the mail server and then click on the change password. A
prompt will come up with the option to enter the new password after which click on ok to change the
password.

6.14 AAA Server Settings

In Cisco Packet Tracer, after placing the server-PT in the workspace, we click on the icon and when it
opens up, click on the services tap and then select AAA, after which, turn on the AAA service, enter the client
name (router’s hostname), client IP (IP address of the router’s interface that is connected to the AAA server),
key (server key), and then the AAA server type which can be either Radius server or TACACS server. And then
down to the user setup, enter the username and password for all the users that should have access to the
networked devices.

6.15 Securing the Network

Security configurations on the network include:

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

6.15.1 Setting up Passwords on All Switches and the Router

This can be done by connecting to the switch or router using the console port and then opening up terminal
window to bring up the command line interface, then the following commands is entered:

Router>enable
Router#configure terminal
Router(config)#enable secret group8
Router(config)#service password-encryption
Router(config)#end
Router#write memory

From the above configurations, the password for the router is set to group 8 and password encryption is
enabled using the “service password-encryption” command and the commands are saved to memory. The same
procedure is followed to apply the same commands to the switch.

6.15.2 Setting up Console Port and Telnet Connection Passwords

This can be done by opening up the CLI of the switch or router entering the following commands:

Router(config)#line vty 0 4
Router(config-line)#password group8
Router(config-line)#login
Router(config-line)#end
Router(config)#line console 0
Router(config-line)#password group8
Router(config-line)#login
Where group8 is the password set up for both the telnet (vty) and console port connections.

6.15.3 Setting up Secure Shell (SSH)

Secure shell is a more secure version telnet as the passwords are encrypted before they are sent over the network.
Setting up secure shell involves the following commands:

Router(config)#hostname Admin_router
Admin_router(config)#ip domain-name engcomplex.com
Admin_router(config)#crypto key generate rsa general-key modulus 1024
Admin_router(config)#ip ssh authentication-retries 3
Admin_router(config)#line vty 0 1180
Admin_router(config)#transport input ssh telnet

The modulus of 1024 indicates the strength of the rsa key to be generated.

6.15.4 Setting up an AAA Model on the Router

AAA assists in authenticating, authorizing and accounting on the network but only authentication is implemented
in this report and the AAA model is implemented on the router by making the following configurations.

Admin_router(config)#aaa new-model
Admin_router(config)#tacacs-server host 172.168.4.1 key secret
Admin_router(config)#aaa authentication login ACCESS group tacacs+
Admin_router(config)#line console 0
Admin_router(config-line)#login authentication ACCESS
Admin_router(config-line)#end
Admin_router#write memory

VII. PRESENTATION OF RESULTS

The results obtained from the design and analyses of the network is presented as follows:

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

Figure 3: VLANs created on the switch Figure 4: DHCP server pools

Fig. 3 shows the created VLANs running on the switch, their ID and switch ports associated to each
VLAN. Fig. 4 shows the results after the configuration of the DHCP server, showing the address pools for each
VLAN created on the Network
A dynamic address configuration was done on the network, i.e. when a client device connects to the network; it
is offered an IP address that is available in that network address pool, that the client is connected to. Fig. 5 shows
client devices successfully obtaining an IP address that is appropriate to the VLAN the devices are connected to.

Electrical subnet (172.168.0.0/24) old_aud subnet (172.168.5.0/24)

Agric subnet (172.168.1.0/24) civil subnet (172.168.2.0/24)

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

Mech subnet (172.168.3.0/24) Network center subnet (172.168.4.0/24)

New_aud subnet (172.168.6.0/24) library subnet (172.168.7.0/24)

Figure 5: Client obtaining IP address information

From Fig. 5, it is shown that each client connected to the network is obtaining IP address information
dynamically, according to the subnet the client is connected to.

7.1 Ping Test

Network connectivity and communication can be tested using a ping command, followed by the domain
name or the IP address of the device (equipment) one wishes to test connectivity to. Two VLANs have been
added to the existing network and the ping test was performed to test if the devices connected to those VLANs
are communicating with the rest of the devices on the network. The results obtained are as shown in Fig. 6.

Network Centerelect Network centercivil

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

Network centernew aud Network centerlibrary

Network centeragric Network centerMech

Network centerold aud Mech network center

Figure 6: Ping tests

From Fig. 6, it is observed that the network is performing well, this is because when we compared the
ping test of the network designed to the ping test on the existing network of College of Engineering, University
of Agriculture, Makurdi, the values were similar. Fig. 7 shows the ping test on the live network in existence.

Figure 7: Ping test to a server on the UAM network

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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

Using ping to test to confirm that our DNS configuration is working properly, the domain name
engcomplex.com was pinged in one of the PC and observed if it translated the domain name to a valid IP
address. Fig. 8 shows the result of the test.

Figure 8: Pinging a domain name

From Fig. 8, it is observed that the domain name engcomplex.com gets translated to 172,168.4.3 which is the
address of the web server hosting the website.

7.2 Email Service

The email service results show a message from a registered email user on the network, sending a mail to another
registered mail user. Fig. 9 displays the results of the email service.

Figure 9: E-mail service result

From the results, it is seen that the mail server set up on the network is working properly.

VIII. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a Local Area Network (LAN) that uses both wired and wireless topology have been
implemented with some important concepts like DHCP, DNS, Email, VLANs in a single network using Cisco
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 Design and Simulation of Local Area Network Using Cisco Packet Tracer

Packet Tracer. VLANs have been used to logically group clients on the network, and with the aid of a router and
switch configurations, data packets routed from one device to another. It is also noteworthy that, the
configuration and specifications are for the initial prototype and can further be developed and additional
functionality can be added to increase support and coverage. The procedures provide a veritable approach for
the design of LANs for end-to-end IP network connectivity for next generation network (NGN) architecture
implementations.

REFERENCES
[1]. Tim Reardon, Planning, Designing and operating local area networks, DISAM Journal, Summer, 1997.
[2]. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_networks, Retrieved 10th October, 2016.
[3]. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/local_area_network, Retrieved 10th October, 2016.
[4]. Garima Jain, Nasreen Noorani, Nisha Kiran, Sourabh Sharma, Designing & simulation of topology network using Packet Tracer,
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 2(2), 2015.
[5]. Alan Dennis, Networking in the Internet age (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).
[6]. Kenan Xu, Performance analysis of differentiated QoS MAC in wireless local area networks (WLANs), Thesis Submitted to the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen’s University, Canada. September, 2003.
[7]. David D. C., Kenneth T.P., David P.R, An introduction to local area networks, Proc. of the IEEE conf., Vol. 66, 1978.
[8]. Todd Lammle, Cisco Certified network associate study guide (Wiley Publishing Inc., 2007).

BIOGRAPHIES
Nathaniel S. Tarkaa is presently a lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. He also worked with NITEL, Nigeria’s national telecom
company for 19 years. He joined the University since 2009. He holds M.Sc. in Electronics and Communications
Engineering and is presently a PhD student in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka. His research interests are in all areas of communications engineering.

Paul I. Iannah is a graduating student from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of the
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. He did a B.Eng. degree programme. His research interests
are in communications engineering.

Isaac T. Iber is a graduating student from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of the
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. He did a B.Eng. degree programme. His research interests
are in communications engineering.

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